i am pleased to turned over to the cochairs of our committee -- congresswoman rosa delauro and congressman rob andrew. we are pleased to be joined by the chair of the judiciary committee, john conyers, and the chair of the violence prevention task force, congressman mike thompson. thank you for your leadership. we're also joined by our distinguished whip, steny hoyer. i'll yield to him for a moment and then to our co-chair. >> i think you very much, madam leader. for scheduling this. obviously critical and very timely hearing -- i look forward to hearing from the witnesses. all of us, as the president indicated in his talk today and presentation of his program and signing of executive orders, we all feel the urgency of responding to the dangers that our communities confront. with the distribution of guns in large capacity magazines and the status of our mental health observations, folks what not to have guns, and to make sure we know who is getting weapons of great danger to our community. so i appreciate the witnesses and welcome them. it is obviously an extraordinarily timely hearing. wi